Being There
by Igiveup
Summary: Takes place right after the events in Heroes. Hawkes gets a late night visitor. Light slash DannyHawkes. Rated for language.


_Not mine, don't sue. Spoliers for Heroes._

Hawkes was streched out on his couch staring at the celing. He knew he should get some sleep but his mind wouldn't shut down. He was thinking of the events of that day. When Hawkes had done the facial reconstruction of the burned victim, he never imagined that she would turn out to be a friend, to be Aiden. After the initial sketch he had thought he had made a mistake, and had tried again with the computer program, then again with Aiden's photograph. Each time he kept praying that he would be proven wrong, until he had no choice but to face the sickening truth: the victim really was Aiden, the evidence doesn't lie.

Throughout all of his career changes, from surgeon, to ME, to CSI, there was one thing that never changed, and never got any easier: telling someone that their loved one was dead. This time, he had to deliver this news to his friends, making an already hard task more difficult. He had known the person who would have the hardest with this news would be Danny. Even though Hawkes, Mac, and Stella had all cared deeply for Aiden, and were devestated by her death, it was Danny who had been closest to her. Hawkes knew that he could deal with his own grief, but he wasn't as sure about Danny.

Danny had clearly been shaken by the news, but had managed to keep it together to focus on a case he had been working on prior to learning about Aiden. After both cases were completed, it was he who suggested going to Sullivan's and swap stories about Aiden. Being so close to her, he had had the most stories to share. Hawkes had kept a close eye on Danny, concerned for his well being. Aiden's murder had come in on the heels of Danny's brother Louie's beating. Two shocks in such a close period of time would be hard on anyone. Hawkes feared that Danny might be on the verge of a fall.

Hawkes was jolted from his thoughts by a loud crash against his door. The doorknob rattled. Hawkes cautiously got up and went to the door. Just as he was about to look through the peephole, he heard a familiar voice, "Hey Doc, open up, will ya?"

"Danny?" What was he doing here? Hawkes opened the door and Danny fell in, he had been using the door to prop himself up. Hawkes caught him by the arm and pulled him the rest of the way inside, closing the door behind him as he did so. Hawkes couln't help but give a slight cry of alarm at Danny's appearence. Danny reeked of booze and vomit, the latter of which stained his shoes, the ankles of his jeans, and the front of his t-shirt. His right knee was scraped and bleeding. Danny's glasses were missing, and his normally vibrant blue eyes were glassy and blood-shot.

"What happend to you?" asked Hawkes as he led Danny into the bathroom. "I thought you went home with Flack?" He put the lid down on the toilet and helped Danny sit. "Let's get you cleaned up a little okay?" Danny nodded.

"yeah, I went home with Flack but ah... he wanted to be alone I could tell... that's how he deals, ya know? So I told 'm he could leave, then... I dunno... hey, Doc, getting kinda frisky there ain't ya?" Danny asked as Hawkes started removing his, Danny's, clothes.

"Danny you threw up all over your clothes, they need to be washed." Having seen quite a few disgusting things in his lifetime, a little vomit didn't bother Hawkes too much. He put Danny's soiled clothes in the laundry basket beneath the sink. "Were you like this when Flack left?" Hawkes asked, although it didn't really seem like something Flack would do.

"Naaahhh... no, Flack ain't like that... he offered to stay, but I told'm I'd be fine... he worries too much..."

_Seems that Flack had good reason to worry,_ Hawkes thought. He wondered how close Flack had been with Aiden, if he would leave Danny's side like that. He knew it was really none of his business, and anyway he had more important concerns at the moment.

"We'd better get that knee cleaned up; don't want you getting an infection." Hawkes got the supplies he needed from the medicine cabinet.

"Man, you better not use that Bactine shit... that shit burns," Danny swayed a little, and had to grab onto the sink to keep from falling over.

"Whoa, there, careful," Hawkes caught Danny by the shoulders and held on until he was sure Danny was steady. Then he went to work on Danny's knee.

"AHHH!" Danny cried out. "C'mon, I told you... damn that hurts..."

Hawkes sighed and shook his head. "Believe me Danny, come morning your knee will be the last thing you'll complain about." He finished bandaging up Danny's knee. "There you go," he said.

"Thanks, Doc. You're... somethin' else... you know that?"

"Right. Come on," said Hawkes, helping Danny stand up. "You're spending the night."

"Oooooh! A sleep over!" Danny said sarcastically.

"I can't let you go running around in the condiction that you're in, you could get yourself killed."

Hawkes led Danny into the bedroom and helped him strech out on the bed. "Try and get some rest, okay?" He turned out the light and was about to leave the room when Danny grabbed his wrist. "Danny? What is it?" In the glow of the street lights Hawkes could see fear in Danny's eyes.

"Can..." Danny stopped, he seemed embarassed, odd, considering all that had already happend. "Can you stay with me... until I fall asleep?"

Hawkes smiled. "Sure, no problem." He sat down on the edge of the bed. Danny was still holding on to his wrist. For awhile there was silence, then Danny began to speak.

"Ya know, I've been thinking 'bout Aiden all day since I found out..." Danny swallowed, then continued. "At first, I had that Marine case... that I could focus on, an' then later when it was all of us together at Sullivan's, I could focus on the... the good stuff, but then... when I was alone," his hand tightened around Hawkes wrist, and his whole body tensed up. "I... could see Aiden, I saw that bastard Pratt, beat her... rape her... kill her...An' it wouldn't stop," Danny's voice shook, and he pulled Hawkes' hand closer to his chest. "I tried to make it stop... but it wouldn't...thought maybe I'd come see you... that you could make it stop."

Hawkes wished that there was something he could say to ease Danny's pain. But no such words existed. Only time could heal such wounds, and even then never completely. All Hawkes could do was try to be there for Danny, and listen to him. Hawkes gently brushed a stray hair off Danny's forehead, then gently rubbed his shoulder until Danny finally drifted off to sleep.


End file.
